Jun 22, 2026 9:00:00 AM | Start a Business How Much Does Shopify Cost in Australia? Are There Hidden Fees, and Alternative?

Starting an online store in Australia has never been more accessible — but picking the right platform is where most sellers get stuck. Shopify is the name that comes up first, and the pricing looks straightforward at first glance. It rarely is. Beyond the monthly subscription, there are transaction fees, apps, and others that most new store owners don't see coming. This article breaks down the real cost of running a Shopify store in Australia in 2026, and whether there's a smarter alternative worth considering.

Key takeaway: how much does Shopify cost in Australia

Shopify's Basic plan starts at $42 AUD/month on annual billing, but the real monthly cost runs higher once you add transaction fees, paid apps, domain registration, and email hosting. New stores keeping their app stack lean can expect to spend $75–$150 AUD/month, while stores scaling with more tools and higher order volume may reach $75–$434 AUD/month or more.

Shopify's current plans and pricing in Australia

Shopify offers four main plans for Australian merchants, each targeting a different stage of business growth. Here's the pricing, verified against Shopify's AU pricing page in June 2026:

Shopify's AU plans are priced in AUD, but they roughly mirror the USD pricing available to US merchants. The Basic plan at $56 AUD/month (annual) is broadly equivalent to the $39 USD/month US rate.

What annual billing actually saves you?

Committing to a yearly plan saves you 25% across Basic, Grow, and Advanced. On the Basic plan, that works out to $672 AUD billed monthly over a year versus $504 AUD on an annual plan — a $168 AUD saving without changing a single feature. For most merchants who are confident in the platform, annual billing is the straightforward choice. If you're still testing the waters, Shopify does offer a three-day free trial followed by $1 promotional pricing for the first three months.

Does Shopify charge GST in Australia?

Yes. Australian stores are subject to 10% GST on their Shopify subscription and any shipping labels purchased through the platform. That said, if your business is registered for Australian GST, you can avoid this charge by adding your Australian Business Number (ABN) to your Shopify account. The exemption applies to invoices issued after your ABN is added, so it won't apply to any bills that were already pending at the time of registration.

Shopify transaction fees in Australia

Transaction fees are where many Australian merchants get caught off guard, particularly those who prefer using a payment gateway they already know, like PayPal or Stripe.

When you use Shopify Payments (built-in)

Shopify Payments is Shopify's native processor, and using it gives you the most competitive rates with no additional Shopify surcharge on top. Based on the official Shopify AU pricing page, here are the current rates:

A few things to flag here. The widely advertised "1.75% + 30¢" rate applies only to standard domestic card transactions — Australian Visa and Mastercard. If a customer pays with American Express, you're looking at 2.9% + 30¢ on the Basic plan. If they're an international buyer using an overseas-issued card, that climbs to 3.5% + 30¢. For stores that actively market to customers outside Australia, the effective processing cost can be meaningfully higher than the headline rate suggests.

When you use a third-party gateway (PayPal, Stripe, Afterpay, etc.)

If you process payments through an external gateway rather than Shopify Payments, Shopify applies an additional surcharge on top of whatever that gateway already charges you. Again, from the official AU pricing page:

• Basic: +2% per transaction
• Grow: +1% per transaction
• Advanced: +0.6% per transaction
• Plus: +0.2% per transaction

To put that in practical terms: on $10,000 AUD per month in sales using a third-party gateway on the Basic plan, Shopify's surcharge alone adds $200 AUD — before your gateway takes its own cut. Over a year, that's $2,400 AUD in fees that could have been avoided entirely by switching to Shopify Payments.

The additional costs that catch Australian store owners off guard

Beyond the subscription and transaction fees, most Shopify stores carry a layer of ongoing costs that aren't obvious at sign-up — and these are often what push a "basic" store into a much higher monthly spend.

Quick cost check about add-ons

Here's what a Basic plan store realistically costs per month once you account for the extras:

The biggest variable in this table is app spending. If you're just starting out, you likely don't need a paid loyalty tier or multiple premium tools — keeping your app stack lean can hold your total monthly overhead to around $75–$150 AUD. That said, costs tend to grow as your store scales, and it's worth mapping out your likely app requirements early. Switching platforms later to reduce costs comes with its own migration headaches, so understanding the full fee picture upfront saves you from a harder decision down the road.

Paid apps

Shopify's core plans cover the essentials, but most established stores need third-party apps to function competitively. Product filters, customer review systems, loyalty programs, advanced upsells, dropshipping supplier sync, and email automation — none of these come built in at most plan levels. You'll typically need to purchase individual apps from the Shopify App Store, each with its own monthly subscription.

• Most apps are priced between $10 and $100+ AUD per month.
• An established store using 8–12 apps can easily spend $50–$500+ AUD per month on apps alone.
• Costs compound quickly if you're not auditing your active subscriptions regularly.

Take loyalty and points redemption as a concrete example. If you want to run a member tiering and rewards program on Shopify, you'll need a dedicated app. The most widely used options include:

• Smile.io: It offers a free plan available (up to 200 monthly orders). Paid plans start at $15 USD/month (Essential, up to 500 orders), $79 USD/month (Standard, up to 1,000 orders), and $199 USD/month (Growth, up to 2,500 orders with VIP tiers, checkout redemption for Shopify Plus, and unlimited integrations).
• LoyaltyLion: An enterprise-grade option with deeper customisation and advanced segmentation, starting at approximately $199 USD/month. Better suited for stores processing higher volumes who need detailed loyalty flows and Klaviyo integration.

Premium themes

Shopify includes a selection of free themes, and some of them are genuinely functional. But if you want a more distinctive look without hiring a developer, a premium theme runs between $150 and $560 USD (around $214 AUD and $800 AUD) as a one-time purchase. Many Australian merchants pay this upfront to differentiate their store from competitors using the same free templates.

Custom domain

Shopify doesn't include a domain name in any of its plans. Registering a .com.au or .com domain costs approximately $15–$44 AUD per year, either through Shopify Domains or a third-party registrar like GoDaddy Australia. It's not a major expense, but it is an extra line item that new store owners sometimes don't anticipate.

Marketplace sync fees

If you sell across multiple marketplaces (such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy) alongside your Shopify store, the first 50 synced marketplace orders per month are free on all plans. Beyond that, Shopify charges 1% per order, capped at $99 USD/month. It sounds manageable at first, but if you're running meaningful volume across two or three marketplaces, that 1% adds up before you hit the cap — and it's a cost most new store owners don't anticipate until they see it on their bill.

Email hosting

Shopify doesn't offer email hosting, but you can connect a third-party email hosting service to your custom domain. That means if you want an address like [email protected], you'll need to set that up through a third-party provider. Google Workspace and Zoho Mail are the most common choices, both priced at approximately $10–$15 AUD per user per month.

If you buy a domain through Shopify, you can set up an unlimited number of forwarding email addresses for free, but forwarding only redirects incoming mail to your personal inbox. You can't send replies from your branded address without a paid hosting service.

Is Shopify the right platform for Australian sellers?

Shopify is a mature, globally supported platform — and for the right seller, the investment is justified. It offers strong Australian payment integrations, local SEO tools, a wide app ecosystem, and reliable infrastructure that's hard to argue with at scale.

That said, the platform's economics are designed to reward volume. The more you sell, the better your per-transaction rate. The more staff you add, the more you need a higher plan. The more features you need, the more apps you're paying for. For sellers already processing $20,000+ AUD per month with consistent growth, Shopify's cost structure tends to make sense.

Where it becomes harder to justify:

• New store owners who underestimate app dependency and end up spending $150–$200+ AUD per month before their first sale.
• Dropshippers who need native supplier integrations and find themselves paying separately for every tool.
• Sellers who want an all-in-one platform rather than assembling one from separate subscriptions.

If you're in the early stages and trying to keep overhead low while you test your product-market fit, the platform's fee structure can feel like a headwind.

An affordable alternative for Australian ecommerce sellers: Shoplazza

If you're comparing platforms before committing, Shoplazza is worth understanding — particularly for sellers who want built-in features that Shopify typically charges extra for.

What Shoplazza is?

Shoplazza is a cross-border ecommerce SaaS platform built for DTC sellers, dropshippers, and print-on-demand businesses who want to launch and operate globally without assembling a stack of separate tools. It combines an AI-powered store builder, built-in global payments, and native supplier integrations in one platform.

Getting started doesn't require a developer or a large upfront budget. Shoplazza's AI Store Builder works through a guided chat flow, product upload, or URL. With these functions, you just answer a few questions about your business, and the AI generates 3 basic store style designs for you to choose from, and then builds out the full store from one of them. That includes the homepage, product pages, About and Contact pages, policy pages, and checkout. You can preview the result before signing up, with no credit card required.

Who Shoplazza suits best in Australia?

• New sellers who want an all-in-one setup without a growing app bill as their store scales.
• Dropshippers sourcing from CJdropshipping or other dropshipping suppliers who want simple integrations.
• Cross-border sellers targeting multiple markets beyond Australia, using Shoplazza's Markets feature to configure up to 50 additional markets with per-market currency and domain settings.

Shoplazza pricing vs Shopify (annual billing, USD)

On annual billing, both platforms land at virtually the same price point in every tier. The real difference isn't the subscription cost — it's what each platform includes at that price. Shoplazza's Pro plan carries a 0.5% transaction fee, dropping to 0% when using Shoplazza Payments, and bundles B2B wholesale and Avalara automated tax calculation at no extra charge.

Built-in features that reduce your app bill

Beyond the subscription price, the more meaningful difference between the two platforms is the app stack. On Shopify, most marketing and retention features require paid third-party apps on top of your monthly plan. Shoplazza takes a different approach — the majority of tools merchants actually need come built in or free.

Native marketing tools included at no extra cost:

• Flash sales, discount codes, and Buy X Get Y campaigns are all built into the platform. No app purchase needed. (Flash sales, discount codes, Buy X Get Y).
• Abandoned cart email recovery is included natively, covering one of the most common reasons Shopify merchants reach for a paid app.
• Athena, Shoplazza's AI operations agent, runs 24/7 inside the admin and handles bulk product management, order processing, discount configuration, logistics queries, and data visualisation through natural language. Sensitive actions require merchant confirmation before execution. Currently free, no installation required.

Shoplazza's app marketplace also follows a different model from Shopify's, around 90% of apps are free to use, with roughly 10% available as optional paid subscriptions at comparatively low cost. A few examples of what's included without an additional app:

• Free SEO tools: Automatic ALT text, meta tag maintenance, sitemap generation, JSON-LD structured data, and landing page SEO analysis.
• LazzaStudio: An AI product image generation tool with four generation modes including ChatGPT Image 2.0, outputting at 2K and 4K resolution. Legally compliant for Australian commercial use when not fabricating product results.
• Loyalty and Push: AI-driven member tiering, points redemption at checkout, automated email campaigns, and AI-generated product recommendation lists — all built in.

That last point is worth dwelling on. On Shopify, a comparable loyalty and member tiering setup requires a dedicated app like Smile.io, which starts at $15 USD/month on the Essential plan and climbs to $199 USD/month on Growth for VIP tiers and advanced integrations.

Shoplazza's Loyalty & Push app consolidates member tiering, points redemption, email campaigns, and AI-personalised product recommendations into a single tool — compared to Shopify where you'd need separate apps to cover the same ground. It offers four plans:

• Free: Up to 250 member orders/month and 500 emails/month. Includes 5 membership tiers, 4 points redemption methods, member segmentation, and AI-personalised content for emails and products.
• Starter ($27 USD/month): Up to 2,000 member orders/month and 15,000 emails/month. Adds checkout points redemption, 4 segmentation templates, customisable membership tiers, points expiry, and AI product recommendations.
• Growth ($53 USD/month): Up to 5,000 member orders/month and 30,000 emails/month. Adds AI-generated tier schemes, 8 segmentation templates, periodic and birthday membership perks, AI analytics and strategy recommendations, and smart email push.
• Pro ($84 USD/month): Up to 10,000 member orders/month and 100,000 emails/month. Adds 16 member segmentation templates, AI-recommended related and complementary products, and the full feature set across all tiers.

All paid plans are billed monthly, with annual subscriptions available at a saving of up to $180 USD/year on the Pro plan. New installs receive a 21-day free trial on the Pro plan.

How much does Shoplazza cost to build an online store?

Shoplazza's Basic plan starts at $29.25 USD/month on annual billing, or $39 USD/month if you prefer to pay monthly. For Australian sellers, that works out to approximately $42 AUD/month (annual) or $56 AUD/month (monthly) at current exchange rates, sitting at almost exactly the same price point as Shopify's Basic plan in Australia. The difference shows up not in the subscription fee, but in how much you spend beyond it, given that most core tools come built in or free rather than requiring separate app purchases.

Conclusion

Shopify is a capable platform, but its real cost in Australia goes well beyond the subscription price. Transaction surcharges, paid apps, domain registration, email hosting, and GST combine to push even a Basic plan store to $150 AUD/month or more before your first sale. If you're comparing options before committing, Shoplazza offers a comparable subscription price with significantly more built in. For cost-conscious sellers who want fewer moving parts, that difference is worth taking seriously.

Frequently asked questions about Shopify pricing in Australia

Q: How much does Shopify cost per month in Australia?

Shopify's Basic plan starts at $42 AUD/month (annual) or $56 AUD/month (monthly), but that's just the starting point. Once you factor in paid apps, transaction fees, domain registration, and email hosting, most stores spend $150 AUD/month or more. Shoplazza's Basic plan runs at approximately the same price, but with most core tools either built in or available as free apps, keeping your total overhead meaningfully lower.

Q: Does Shopify have hidden fees in Australia?

Shopify doesn't hide fees, but several costs aren't obvious at sign-up. Third-party payment surcharges (0.6%–2.0% per transaction), paid app subscriptions, premium themes, domain registration, and email hosting can collectively push your real monthly spend well above the advertised subscription price.

Q: Does Shopify charge GST in Australia?

Yes — 10% GST applies to Shopify subscriptions for Australian businesses. You can avoid this charge by adding a valid Australian Business Number (ABN) to your account, provided your business is registered for GST. The exemption applies to invoices issued after your ABN is added.

Q: What is the cheapest Shopify plan in Australia with a full online store?

The Starter plan at $7 AUD/month is the cheapest option, but it only supports selling via social media — there's no full storefront. The cheapest plan with a complete online store is Basic, at $42 AUD/month on annual billing, plus GST.

Q: Is there a more affordable alternative to Shopify for Australian sellers?

On subscription price alone, Shoplazza and Shopify are nearly identical on annual billing. The real difference is total cost of ownership. Shoplazza includes built-in marketing campaigns, abandoned cart recovery, native dropshipping integrations, SEO tools, and Shoplazza Payments as standard — features that typically require separate paid apps on Shopify. For sellers trying to keep overhead low without sacrificing functionality, that distinction adds up quickly.